Veterans column: Newark's Giorgetti injured from mine strike on destroyer near Korea
After World War II, Newark native George Giorgetti reenlisted in the Navy and was stationed on the West Coast.
On Feb. 18, 1950, the 30-year-old bachelor married Madonna Ferrell in the Chapel at Hunter’s Point Naval Station in San Francisco, California. Giorgetti was serving on the destroyer, the U.S.S. Brush and in 1950 all eyes were focused on Korea as tensions grew in that country. In May, the ship was ordered to the Far East where it joined other U.S. ships off the coast of Taiwan. On June 25, 1950, North Korean Army forces invaded South Korea beginning the Korean War. Four days later the Brush arrived at her destination.
As the war in Korea escalated, the Brush was assigned to screen aircraft carriers and participated in shore bombardment. On Sept. 26, 1950, the Brush was in the Sea of Japan just off the coast of North Korea when it was unexpectedly shook by an underwater explosion. The crew was thrown about the ship as the 2,200 ton-destroyer rocked with a hole in her about mid-ship. Some of the sailors had been knocked overboard in the blast and fires had started on the ship. It was such a surprise Giorgetti must have felt like he was back at Pearl Harbor in 1941.
According to an Associated Press article published in the days after, the Navy gave the following account of the occurance. “The destroyer hit a mine offshore from the city of Tanchon. A Navy patrol plane dropped life rafts to three men in the water; several other men knocked overboard by the explosion also were rescued from the water. One man swam to the nearby island of Kei-to. Other men were picked up by the destroyer Maddox which was accompanying the Brush. Later, other destroyers and cruisers in the area took aboard some injured. It was the first time since the Korean war began that there has been mention of mines in reports on naval activities in those waters. In response to questions, officers here said that the Navy was positive the destroyer was damaged by a floating mine and not by a torpedo fired by some mysterious submarine. Navy officials said that the North Koreans are believed to be scattering mines by dropping them into streams, allowing the current to carry them out to sea and disperse them over a wide area.”
The Brush sailed back for repairs to Japan. Thirteen men were killed and 31 were injured including Giorgetti. He was treated in Japan for his injuries and then moved to the Naval hospital at Mare Island Naval Shipyard in Vallejo, California. It was here that he wrote a letter to his sister Norma at St. Anthony’s Convent in Steubenville. Norma became a nun in 1936 and had taken the name of Coletta.
“Dear Sister Coletta, Well hello! Surprised? Well, you should be, should you? After all, I do write pretty often don’t I? Well anyway here I am back in the good old U.S.A. and I hope to stay here in the states for good. Well anyhow, all that is keeping me in the hospital is my leg which you already know I have a simple fracture nothing serious. So far, the leg hasn’t bothered me in the least. I still have a good appetite and feel good and really very very happy to be alive. I want to thank you Norma for all the prayers you’ve said for me and thank everyone else who had ever said any prayers for me.”
To be continued…
Doug Stout is the Veterans Project Coordinator for the Licking County Library. You may contact him at 740-349-5571 or dstout@lickingcountylibrary.org. His book "Never Forgotten: The Stories of Licking County Veterans" is available for purchase at the library or online at bookbaby.com & Amazon.com.
This article originally appeared on Newark Advocate: Veterans column: Newark's Giorgetti injured in Korean war
